Putin sets limit on SIM cards per subscriber

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill regulating the operation of instant messaging services into law.

The respective document was published on the official website of legal information on Thursday.

According to the law, a Russian citizen cannot have more than 20 SIM cards, while a foreigner can have no more than 10 SIM cards, including corporate ones.

According to the law, the owners of Telegram channel owners with an audience over 10,000 will have to report data on themselves to the Russian telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor.

The law bans any channel out of Roskomnadzor's 10,000+ list to post advertising, distribute information about the possible funding of the channel and its owners, while other Telegram channels cannot repost its messages.